Meat Health and SafetyRead Fast Food Nation Chapter 9, "What's in the Meat," especially pages 193 - 204. For information about Mad Cow, read "The Meaning of Mad Cow," pages 271 - 276. The dramatic increase in the amount of meat Americans eat is directly related to the spread of fast food. Beef, which was once a special-occasion treat, became an everyday food. This had a huge impact on the economy (the price of meat was forced down; the number of cows raised skyrocketed; the killing of cows expanded in a way that changed entire states and countries). It also had a huge impact on the environment. When workers are pressured to change a living cow into hamburger at top speed, under threats from their bosses and with almost no training, it's easy for diseases to enter the meat. Similarly, when farmers are pressured to deliver thousands of cows rather than a hundred, and when those cows have to weigh more but be fed less (cow food costs money!), it's easy to see how those cows may develop diseases. Start by looking around the site for a Frontline TV show that focused on meat. Antibiotics in meat is an imortant issue to know about. This link includes video and some amazing facts. A look at antibiotics in meat from a business perspective. There are more than 250 different foodborne diseases that have been identified. Most of them are caused by a different types of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can be foodborne. In 1999 the CDC reported 76 million gastrointestinal illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in United States. (FDA(Science), 2001). Here's a quick look at a meat diet and the little extras that it can give you. Easy-to-read. E. Coli is a serious risk. Many children (in the hundreds, though it's hard to find an exact number) have died from E. Coli infections. Here's a website describing the basic facts about e. coli: Fast-food restaurants are responible for many deaths from E. Coli alone. Author Eric Schlosser points out that there is "a simple explanation for why eating a hamburger can now make you seriously ill: There is shit in the meat." Yes: that's what E. Coli is - a bacteria found in cow (and other animal) droppings.
Mad Cow disease is another problem. This website explains the effects of the disease, and suggests that it may be more widespread in this country than officials have admitted. For a simple explanation of what the disease is, this site is clear and easy to understand: The first link here is a long, detailed (that is, hard-to-read) article by Eric Schlosser. It explains the regulations and testing done on cattle in the U.S. and through the world. It tries to explain why the U.S. government seems to be protecting companies more than it protects people. Excellent source. The second is written in an easy-to-read style and also has some facts and political points.
This is a radio show about how fast-food customers don't seem to care about this deadly disease -- and keep on eating beef, trusting the companies to take care of them. Only click here if you can listen to audio on your computer. The clip is 4 1/2 minutes. This article descibes a woman who notices the connections between E. Coli and Mad Cow. This article discusses how these 2 problems are treated similarly. Why do fast food restaurants serve food which is poisonous? (How could we prevent this problem?) Or, on the other hand, what exaactly are the effects of these large companies which have no individual responsibility and care only about profit? (How can we solve the effects of this problem?)
|